1    

Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Royal Australian Navy’s Sea Power Conference

Sydney, Australia Admiral Cecil D. Haney

09 October 2013 As prepared for delivery

Good Morning. It is an honor to be among so many maritime professionals gathered here today. I would like to thank our host and conference organizers for putting together this excellent program. You offer us a unique opportunity to meet as maritime and naval leaders, operators, practitioners and colleagues, all who understand the need to work together on important issues related to our maritime security and stability. Before I get started, I want to thank ADM Ray Griggs for such a splendid International Fleet Review and all the navies that participated. Well done! I am here today to speak to you about the role our navies play in supporting maritime security in this region and throughout the world. It is a role that is critical to our nations, individually and collectively. This morning I will cover the following points: 1) The importance of our collective maritime security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. 2) How we have been addressing the challenges we face in this vibrant world we live in. 3) Opportunities we have to improve as we continue to work together in the future. 4) Finally, I will address what our current U.S. political and financial situation means to our rebalance strategy. Today, we live in a globalized world where our economies are more and more interconnected and interdependent. While many nations represented here rely on freedom of the seas to obtain resources from their Exclusive Economic Zones, all nations are reliant on the sea for the transportation of energy, goods and commodities. Shipping on the open seas carries the bulk of all trade between nations and we can ill afford any disruption to their movement. Freedom of the seas has been key to the economic prosperity we have all shared since the conclusion of World War II, and is key to our continued success in the future. Our navies play a significant role in ensuring freedom of the seas by maintaining security and stability in the maritime domain.

As you know, more than 90 percent of trade and half of the oil used in the Indo-Asia-Pacific moves by sea. In certain key sea lanes, shipping volume can exceed 5,000 container ships each year. In recent times we have seen the flow of up to $5.3 trillion in global trade flowing through the South China Sea annually. We have also seen as much as $1.3 trillion in U.S. trade flow annually through the Strait of Malacca. So clearly the United States has an interest in this area, just as every nation in attendance here today. That is why it is so important that the navies in this region continue to work together toward the important goal of maintaining security at sea for prosperity ashore.

2    

However, we live in an uncertain world, where stability and security in the maritime domain can be threatened by man-made crisis and natural disaster. Today the lives and livelihoods of so many can be threatened, sometimes in an instant. We have to deal with tensions related to resources and territorial claims, the unpredictable behavior of belligerent or irrational nation states, competition between developing nations vying to assert their influence and a wide range of non-state actors and transnational threats. Of course these are merely the manmade problems that we face. Consider what nature can do to affect the flow of trade in the region with typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes and of course tsunamis. To effectively address these security challenges it requires our collaboration, cooperation and the strengthening of mutual trust, friendships, alliances and partnerships. We work at it every day; just consider all that we do in the region together.

Nowadays our navies and coast guards have been working together to ensure stability and security, thus enabling an opportunity for continued economic prosperity. This of course involves sailor-to-sailor interactions at all levels as we work to ensure stability by conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, maritime security and deterrence, and of course if deterrence should fail, all the way to power projection.

During my tenure as commander of the Pacific Fleet, I have been impressed with the tremendous capacities of your navies and the professionalism of your sailors. But I know we can all appreciate that sometimes the potential challenges we face in this region can surpass the ability of any one nation to address them alone. That is why it is so important to have interoperable capability with our allies, partners and friends, so that we are able to prepare for crisis, and if required, we are able to respond accordingly. Today, the United States conducts exercises and training events with more than 20 allies, partners and friends in this region, to increase partnership capabilities and to address uncertainty in the region. This is something we clearly put a high value on and I look forward to continuing into the future. But the question is, can we take it up a notch; can we do more, together, to ensure future security in the maritime domain? Are we doing the right things? Are we doing them right? It is important to ensure credible interoperability between our navies. Of course, interoperability here means more than a commonality between our technology, it also involves a deeper understand and acceptance of our many different and unique cultures, our operational doctrine, and our individual nation’s political sensitivities, just to list a few. To improve in these areas, it requires us to continue to work together and even now we are planning for the future. As an example, I am delighted to see that so many have been willing to participate in the RIMPAC exercise. Last year was the largest in RIMPAC history, with 22 nations participating. We expect RIMPAC 14 to be another history-making exercise. By demonstrating our ability to unite as a fully interoperable coalition of navies, we can more effectively ensure security and stability that is so important to all of us. That takes a commitment on the part of everyone who has a stake in the security in this region. You know, four days ago I was in Hawaii and flew to Japan. Then I flew here to Sydney, Australia. I was looking down at a lot of ocean on those flights. So for those of you who do not

3    

have an appreciation for just how big the Pacific is, it is half the planet. My aching body will reaffirm, it is big. At 500 knots it took 10 and a half hours to get from Hawaii to Japan, so as you can imagine traveling by ship at 15-20 knots takes longer; about 10 days. That is why it is so important for our Navy’s ships to be deployed forward to those areas of consequence throughout the region. It is also important for your ships to be out and about in the region where their presence can act as a deterrent to criminal activity and mischief, and they can minimize their response time to crisis as well. Of course it is important to have the right presence for the right reasons. Though we all have many interests related to this important region, we must always remain mindful that security and stability is the cornerstone to shared prosperity and peace. From maritime security to cyber security, from the high seas to the EEZ’s, the United States is committed to fostering a rules-based regime of relationships that respect international law and international norms. This includes a healthy respect for, and adherence to, international law, including important mandates of customary international law such as the freedoms of navigation and use of the sea, as evidenced by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The United States remains fully committed to resolving regional disputes with respect to territory and the maritime regimes that are always derived from land territory. We also remain committed to the goal of achieving a code of conduct with respect to those issues. It is the responsibility of our navies to demonstrate and reinforce our united commitment to established international norms. While our forces can surge to respond to any crisis, it takes trust and cooperation for us to effectively confront crisis together. Of course, you cannot surge trust and cooperation, it takes time and effort to build it. As an example, consider the effect of trust and cooperation between the United States and Japan when the United States surged forces to help in the wake of the unprecedented earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis of 2011. Our two nations have been working to build that level of trust and cooperation for 68 years. Of course we have been working just as long with many of our allies and partners in the region and have built that same level of trust and cooperation with them. But there is more that can be done by reaching out to other nations and engaging them as well. Pacific Partnership is a great example of the type of mission that helps partner and host nations start to build trust and cooperation. In 2012 they had the motto “Prepare in Calm to respond in Crisis.” Working with our allies, partners and friends and non-governmental organizations in Pacific Partnership does just that. Here is another great example of multilateral success. Over the past decade we have seen significant decreases in incidents in the Strait of Malacca where the Malacca Strait Patrols have combined the efforts of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to prove that, by working together, we can address any challenge. I am hopeful that we can translate these successes into combined efforts in other areas of concern. Today we are looking to find more opportunities to work together in multilateral engagements so that we can further increase trust and cooperation in the region. As an example, our CARAT exercises, that is Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, have traditionally been bilateral. But today we are putting emphasis on our desire to up the game in these events and make them multilateral, where appropriate.

4    

During the last seven decades, since the end of World War II, the nations of this region have shown their resilience by not only rebuilding, but thriving. Just consider how much several great cities throughout the Asia-Pacific have evolved over the last 70 years; cities like Tokyo, Kaohsiung, Singapore or Seoul. They have all demonstrated tremendous growth and prosperity. This is a trend that we hope to continue to see far into the future. The United States rebalance to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region reflects our understanding of just how important this vibrant Indo-Asia-Pacific region is now and will be in the future. The United States is resilient too, but in a slightly different way than I just described. Despite the political and financial uncertainty that we are facing, we will maintain our presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific and we will continue our rebalance to this important region, and I am not saying this alone. Over the last week, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry have been traveling through the Asia-Pacific, reaffirming our Nation’s commitment to the rebalance. On 04 October, 2013, Secretary of Defense Hagel said, “The Asian rebalance is a priority. You always adjust your resources to match your priorities.” I think that comment speaks volumes. Since the end of World War II, our Nation has maintained a continuous presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region as we worked to maintain security and stability in the maritime domain. Despite the cyclic nature of defense spending, our Navy has always maintained a robust and capable presence in the region. This time it won’t be any different. We will remain postured forward, we will remain ready, and we will be rebalancing to this region. As I conclude, I would like to talk a little more on rebalance. Of course I am excited about the new platforms, equipment and technology that is flowing into the region, like the new Littoral Combat Ship, the P-8 Poseidon, our Virginia-class submarines and the new MH-60 Romeos and Sierras, just to list a few. I am also excited about the intellectual focus of the rebalance. The whole of our United States Government is rebalancing intellectual capital and leadership attention toward the region and the United States Navy is doing the same. We are prioritizing doctrine in our concept of development and increasing our experimentation and the validation of new tactics, techniques and procedures and operational concepts. We are developing our people to serve in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, to include revitalizing the Foreign Area Officer program, as just one example. Having talented people that know the region, building strong relationships, is key to our success. We are also engaging in increasingly powerful ways with you, our allies, partners and friends, to match our priorities with yours. For above all, I believe our interests are intertwined, and that the only way forward is to find ways to work more closely together to assure our secure and prosperous future together. I thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today and I look forward to taking your questions.